Tobyhanna woman gets shot on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'

Not for Alison McManus Miller of Tobyhanna. For her, it's a dozen times.

That's how many tryouts it took her, starting in 2005, to pass all the rigorous screening and make her way to the hot seat on one of her favorite game shows — "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

Miller, 54, will be a featured contestant on the daytime game show — finally — Friday. The show airs on WNEP Channel 16 at 12:30 p.m.

Miller said she passed the written test to get on the show all 12 times she tried, but couldn't get noticed past the camera test for a chance to appear on the show.

"Every time, I'd get the postcard, 'Thanks, but no thanks,'" she said of the notice the show sends would-be contestants who don't make the cut.

"I use them as bookmarks now. Every now and then I'll find one in a book that I haven't read in a while."

This time, however, was different.

She was driving her daughter Hayley to school at East Stroudsburg University in September, and she was at a Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru when she got the call that they wanted her on the show after a September test attempt — if she could answer four more questions.

They started asking, and Miller had to start answering. "Right while I'm going through the drive-thru," she laughed.

She nailed all four questions, the show called back with some more personal questions later that day, and after that, it was on her way to New York City, where the show is taped.

Little did she know it when she took her test that she was part of another show.

She passed the written portion of the test along with about 15 others, and they all were put into a room to take another, harder test — something a veteran show test-taker like Miller thought was fishy since it had never happened before.

"I thought it was something new they were doing," she said.

During the test, the proctors left the room and craziness ensued.

Two women openly cheated by discussing answers and using their cellphones and another man admonished them for it with an expletive-laced rant.

Turns out, it was a social experiment for the ABC hidden-camera reality show, "What Would You Do?"

The episode aired in October.

"I don't think anyone else who tried out for 'Millionaire' has that story," she said.

She can't reveal what happens before Friday's airing — and neither can Hayley, a junior majoring in psychology at ESU, who accompanied her to the show.

She said being in the audience while her mom sweated through the experience was nerve-racking.

"When you're watching at home, you tell people, 'Just guess, just guess,'" she said. "But once you're there, it's different. And I was only in the audience."

Now that she's hit "Millionaire," Miller, who works as a caregiver to her parents, both of whom have Parkinson's disease, has another TV dream.

"I want to be on 'Jeopardy,'" she said. "I'm better at that anyway."

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